BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The international community has continued to condemn the July 5 riots in Urumqi, the capital of China's northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which has left 192 people dead. Religious leaders and some experts also voiced support for the joint efforts by the Chinese government and various ethnic groups to safeguard ethnic unity and social stability. Regional leaders of two major Islamic organizations -- Nahdatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah -- in the Indonesian city of Surabaya said Islam advocates peace and opposes violence. Muslims love peace, pursue peace and take real actions to maintain peace and oppose any violent and terrorist actions, they said Tuesday while meeting Wang Huagen, Chinese general consulate in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city. The two Islamic leaders also expressed the hope that social order in Urumqi could be restored soon. Pierre Picard, a human geologist and China expert at the University of Paris, said he was shocked by the July 5 incident which was a violent crime orchestrated by foreign terrorists and separatist forces. China has the right to take actions to maintain national stability and restore social order and the measures it has taken were appropriate, he told Xinhua. No country in the world can tolerate attacks by terrorist forces, he added. The Al-Riyadh newspaper, one of the leading newspapers in Saudi Arabia, said in a report on Tuesday that the July 5 incident in Xinjiang was a crime of violence that was premeditated and organized. The unrest was not an ethnic issue nor a religious one, but a case against public order incited by a few separatists and mobs, it stressed. Bahrain's Al-Ayam newspaper shared the view. In a report published on Tuesday, it said the incident was by no means an ethnic or religious issue, but a grave violent crime involving beating, smashing, looting and burning premeditated, organized and instigated by the separatist forces both in and outside China. The purpose of the separatists is to sabotage ethnic unity and social stability in Xinjiang, said the report. The local government of the autonomous region has adopted effective measures in accordance with law to stop the violent crimes in a bid to safeguard social stability and resume normal social order as well as protect local people's rights and interests, it said. The report said that the Chinese government had introduced and carried out a series of ethnic and religious policies since the People's Republic of China was established. China always sticks to the principle of protecting ethnic minorities equal rights and safeguarding ethnic solidarity, and is firmly opposed to ethnic discrimination and oppression of any ethnic group as well as any activities aimed at undermining ethnic unity, it said. China has always valued the role played by Islamic countries and attached great importance to its friendly relations with them, the report said, adding that such relations will be further cemented through joint efforts by both sides.
BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Natural disasters killed 88,928 people in China last year, according to a report released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The number is the highest since 1976, when the 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Tangshan City in north China's Hebei Province and killed more than 242,000 people, according to the report on the statistics of the country's civil affairs in 2008. In addition, a total of 480 million people were affected by natural disasters, with direct financial losses of 1.175 trillion yuan (about 173 billion U.S. dollars). In 2008, major natural disasters were frequent in China, with the unexpected strike of snows in the south and the devastating May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province, the ministry said in the report. The 8.0-magnitude earthquake left more than 87,000 people dead or missing and more than 374,640 injured in Sichuan and neighboring provinces. Before that, the blizzards that struck much of central and southern China in early 2008 left 129 people dead and losses reached 151.65 billion yuan, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called on officials to read more books and take reading and study as "life attitude, responsibility and spiritual pursuit." Xi told officials attending an opening ceremony of a seminar of the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, "Books are carrying human knowledge and wisdom and are of vital importance to human advancement." As president of the Party School, Xi asked officials to read enlightening books so as to build the Party into an academic one. Xi, also member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, said officials could gain inspiration, expand their mental outlook and improve their cultural attainment through reading, which could also enrich their working experience.
URUMQI, July 7 (Xinhua) -- More than 60 overseas media have sent journalists to Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang region, after a riot broke out in the city Sunday, leaving 156 people dead and 1,080 others injured. "We disclosed information shortly after the incident. We welcome domestic and overseas journalists to come and see what happened," Hou Hanmin, deputy head of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Xinjiang regional committee, said Tuesday. Chinese and foreign journalists work at the press center established at Hoi Tak Hotel in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 7, 2009. More than 60 overseas media have sent journalists to Urumqi after a riot broke out in the city Sunday, leaving 156 people dead and 1,080 others injured"As long as security can be guaranteed, we will try our best to arrange interviews," the official said, adding the country was moving ahead on information disclosure. Sixty overseas news media and 80 domestic news media organizations attended a press conference Tuesday afternoon, at which the Urumqi mayor said identification of the dead in the riot is underway. "The government adopts a much more open attitude toward the media after the incident, compared with that after the March 14 unrest in Tibet and the Sichuan earthquake last year," said Ted Plasker in fluent Chinese. He is a journalist with The Economist who has been in China since 1989. Chinese and foreign journalists work at the press center established at Hoi Tak Hotel in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 7, 2009. More than 60 overseas media have sent journalists to Urumqi after a riot broke out in the city Sunday, leaving 156 people dead and 1,080 others injured"I saw tight security and very little traffic in the city," said Plasker, who arrived in Urumqi Monday afternoon. "I have been to the scene and the hospitals. It's horrible to see the people drenched in blood and the shattered shops. Many people who had been attacked told me they did not understand why it happened." Plasker said he himself wanted to know why such a violent riot had happened. Chinese and foreign journalists cover events in the street of Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 7, 2009. More than 60 overseas media have sent journalists to Urumqi after a riot broke out in the city Sunday, leaving 156 people dead and 1,080 others injured"Some places in the city were surrounded by policemen and traffic control could be seen," he said. "But I understand it's for our safety." Choi Yoo Sik, a journalist from South Korean daily Choson Ilbo, said the Chinese government was very open on the incident. "We foreign journalists can interview anybody, Han or Uygur. I have got enough information for my stories." However, when speaking about the situation in the street, he frowned and said, "it is still dangerous at the moment." Urumqi authorities have opened a news center, equipped with more than 50 computers with Internet access, to both Chinese and foreign journalists since Monday afternoon.
CHONGQING, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have ordered the local authorities to spare no efforts to save those people buried in a fatal landslide in the southwest city of Chongqing. Caution must be taken to avoid life losses during the rescue work, the two leaders said. Chinese vice-premier Zhang Dejiang arrived at the landslide site in Wulong county at 5 a.m. Saturday to oversee the rescue efforts. At least 80 people are feared buried in the landslide at an iron ore mining area. Firemen search for survivors at the site where a landslide occured earlier in the Jiwei Mountain area, in Tiekuang Township, about 170 kilometers southeast of the downtown area, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, June 5, 2009. At least 80 people were feared buried in the landslide at an iron ore mining area in Chongqing Municipality on Friday, according to the local government Rescuers had pulled out seven injured people, including four seriously hurt, from the debris as of 8:30 p.m. Friday, according to the publicity department of Wulong County. The injured were taken to hospital. The landslide happened at about 3 p.m. in the Jiwei Mountain area, in Tiekuang Township, about 170 kilometers southeast of the downtown area. Millions of cubic meters of rock filled a valley and buried an iron ore plant and six houses. The trapped included quarry workers, residents and possibly passers-by. The landslide also cut off power and communications in many parts of the town. More than 500 rescuers are searching for the missing. Investigation into the cause of the landslide has begun. A team of fire fighters await orders before rescue near the site of landslide at an iron ore mining area in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, southwest China, June 5, 2009.At least 80 people are feared buried in the landslide in Chongqing on Friday, according to the local government. Rescuers had pulled out seven injured people, including four seriously hurt, from the debris as of 8:30 p.m., according to the publicity department of Wulong County, the site of the accident
BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) -- With the influenza A/H1N1 already spreading to more than 20 countries and regions, China is taking swift actions to keep the deadly virus at bay, while both the world health body and the country itself have defended the strict quarantine policies the government has adopted. Passengers of T98 train go through customs at Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, May 5, 2009. T98 train connecting Kowloon and Beijing arrived here Tuesday. This was the first arrival of a train from Hong Kong in Beijing since the first human influenza A/H1N1 case was confirmed in Hong Kong, south China, on May 1.CABINET DECISION The country will continue to impose strict medical examinations and follow-up checks on travelers from flu-affected countries and regions to prevent influenza A/H1N1, the State Council (cabinet) said here Tuesday. Vehicles and cargo from flu-affected countries and regions will be disinfected, it said in a statement after a meeting presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao. The central government will allot 5 billion yuan (725 million U.S. dollars) for flu prevention and control, it said. The government will also step up research of vaccines and medicines, including alternative treatments of traditional Chinese medicine, according to the statement. The mainland will cooperate with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and China will provide financial and technical support for countries and regions that need assistance, the statement said. The agriculture authorities would tighten monitoring of pig farms, slaughterhouses and livestock markets, it said. CANADIAN STUDENTS QUARANTINED China defended on Tuesday its quarantine of 25 Canadian students in Changchun, capital of northeastern Jilin Province, saying it was in accordance with law and the Canadians had assented to it. Mexicans board a chartered plane in Shanghai, east China, May 5, 2009. A Mexican chartered plane carried 43 quarantined Mexicans and 34 others back to Mexico Tuesday. Those on the plane included 43 crew members and passengers on board the AM098 and 34 others who worked and lived in China but were not under quarantine. The passengers were quarantined after one Mexican passenger was diagnosed with the influenza A/H1N1 on board flight AM098 from Mexico to Shanghai. Other six Mexican passengers volunteered to stay in the city and live under quarantineThe students began a seven-day quarantine period at a hotel on May 2 when they arrived, the same day that Canada confirmed 51 cases of A/H1N1 epidemic infection, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu. Canada has recorded up to 140 cases of A/H1N1 flu by Tuesday, the third-highest figure following Mexico and the United States. Ma said the quarantine was in line with the Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases and Frontier Health and Quarantine Law of China. The students were being well treated, and the authorities had made favorable arrangements for their residence, food and health care. None of the students showed any signs of illness and they were satisfied with the situation, said Ma. The local government had informed the Canadian embassy in China of the quarantine on May 3, and the two countries had been in close contact regarding the virus, he said. Ambulances carrying Mexican nationals head for the Pudong international airport in Shanghai, east China, May 5, 2009. A Mexican chartered plane carried 43 quarantined Mexicans and 34 others back to Mexico Tuesday. Those on the plane included 43 crew members and passengers on board the AM098 and 34 others who worked and lived in China but were not under quarantine. The passengers were quarantined after one Mexican passenger was diagnosed with the influenza A/H1N1 on board flight AM098 from Mexico to Shanghai. Other six Mexican passengers volunteered to stay in the city and live under quarantineCHARTERED FLIGHTS BETWEEN CHINA, MEXICO A total of 79 Chinese citizens left Mexico City early Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent by the Chinese government. The plane took off from international airport Benito Juarez at about 3:05 a.m. local time (0805 GMT), heading towards Tijuana, northern city on the U.S.-Mexico border, to lift 20 more Chinese before returning to China. But due to bad weather, the had to land in Los Angeles, the flight operator said. The plane landed in Los Angeles at around 9p.m. (6 a.m. local time, 1300 GMT), China Southern Airlines said, adding it depends on the weather as to when the plane will leave for Tijuana. China sent the chartered flight after an agreement with Mexico, the epicenter of the A/H1N1 flu outbreak, to send chartered flights to each other's countries to bring back their stranded nationals. The aircraft Boeing 777-200 is expected to return to Shanghai at 10 a.m. Wednesday local time (0200 GMT), its operator Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines said. China suspended direct flights from Mexico to Shanghai since Saturday after a 25-year-old Mexican man, who arrived in Shanghai Thursday aboard flight Aeromexico 098, was later diagnosed with A/H1N1 flu in Hong Kong. A medical staff member walks past ambulances carrying Mexican nationals in Shanghai, east China, May 5, 2009. A Mexican chartered plane carried 43 quarantined Mexicans and 34 others back to Mexico Tuesday. Those on the plane included 43 crew members and passengers on board the AM098 and 34 others who worked and lived in China but were not under quarantine. The passengers were quarantined after one Mexican passenger was diagnosed with the influenza A/H1N1 on board flight AM098 from Mexico to Shanghai. Other six Mexican passengers volunteered to stay in the city and live under quarantineAlso on Tuesday, a Mexican chartered plane arrived at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Tuesday to pick up the quarantined Mexicans who had been on the same flight with the victim. Andres Pena, vice consul-general of Mexico in Shanghai, said those who got on the plane included 43 crew and passengers on board the AM098 and 34 others, who worked and lived in China but were not under quarantine. WHO DEFENDING QUARANTINE The Mexican government on Monday complained China's decision to quarantine the Mexican nationals in China. However, World Health Organization (WHO) flu chief Keiji Fukudasaid quarantines were a "long-established principle" that make sense in the early phases of an outbreak. "There are other countries that are taking similar actions like China, so I don't think China is standing out in this respect," said Dr. Hans Troedsson, WHO representative in China. Wen Li, a Chinese citizen, who is under quarantine in Beijing, said she was called by disease control staff at midnight on Saturday to be placed under quarantine because she was a passenger on the AM098 flight. "I think the quarantine is necessary and responsible for everybody, regardless of nationality," said the woman, adding that her quarantine is expected to end Wednesday evening or Thursday. MASKS IN STRONG DEMAND The ongoing worldwide A/H1N1 flu scare has led to strong demand for masks at the ongoing 105th China Import and Export Fair, also Canton Fair. "Customers came to our booth, putting their hands on mouth to signal that they want to buy masks. There are so many customers that we are running out of stock," said Li Yan, saleswoman of Conghua Puyuan Health Articles Factory in southern China's Guangdong Province, Tuesday. Business people from across the world gathered at booths selling medicine and health material at the fair. It was even more crowded at booths selling masks and thermometers. Fuzelong, a Guangzhou-based medical material company, said they have won orders for 3 million masks over the past three days, compared with no more than 500,000 masks during previous fairs. The traditional Chinese medicine, which doctors say will help protect people from flu virus, also drew attention. Qi Haidong, manager of a Guangzhou-based pharmaceutical company, said the Chinese herbal medicine for treating colds Radix Isatidis sold well. MAN NABBED FOR SELLING FAKE DRUG There are other people who want to cash in on people's fear over the killer flu. Chinese border police Tuesday arrested a man for selling fake influenza A/H1N1 medicine to foreign ship crews in Shanghai. The man, a rural migrant worker from central China's Hunan Province was found to have sold so called "miracle" medicine to foreign crews at the Shanghai port. If any foreign crew members showed flu symptoms, they should see doctors rather than believe some so-called "miracle" medicine, police said
重庆牙齿矫正的年龄
BEIJING, June 2 (Xinhua) -- China's national college entrance exam saw a decrease in candidates for the first time in the past seven years, said the Ministry of Education Tuesday. About 10.2 million people registered to attend the upcoming exam, down 3.8 percent year on year, according to the ministry. In contrast, candidates for the exam saw a continuous increase from 2002 to 2008, jumping from 5.27 million in 2002 to 10.5 million in 2008. This year's examinees would have more opportunities to enter colleges as they would compete for 6.29 million seats in China's universities and colleges, up four percent from last year, the ministry's figure showed. About half of the country's provinces and regions earlier reported a decrease in candidate number. Some media reports came to the conclusion that greater employment pressure caused by the international economic downturn led to the drop. "I don't agree with this view," said Jiang Gang, deputy director of the ministry's college students office. "The drop of candidate number is mainly due to the decline of senior high school graduates," he said. Jiang, however, admitted the financial crisis did inflict great pressure the country's job market. In China, most of the candidates for higher education are students finishing three-year study in senior high schools. Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed the number of senior high school graduates decreased from 8.49 million last year to 8.34 million this year. It is estimated to be 8.03 million in 2010. College graduates are having a hard time finding jobs this year as posts are being axed due to the economic slowdown. China has 6.11 million college students due to graduate this year, and one million from last year are still looking for jobs, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Known as "gao kao" in Chinese, the national college entrance exam, which falls on June 7 to 9 each year, is the largest examination in the world. The exam can change the candidates' lives in a fiercely competitive society.
BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China released a detailed three-year plan to stimulate its nonferrous metal industry focused on industrial restructuring and technology innovation, the State Council, or the country's Cabinet, said here on Monday. The nonferrous metal sector should keep a steady operation in 2009, and achieve a sustainable development by 2011, according to the plan. The country would encourage regrouping among nonferrous metal companies to sharpen the competitive edge of the whole industry, the plan said. Three-to-five nonferrous metal corporation would be formed out of industrial reconstructing by 2011 with advanced production capacity and technology innovation capability. Combined copper output of top 10 domestic producers should take up 90 percent of the country's total by 2011, aluminum output 70 percent, lead 60 percent, and zinc 60 percent, according to the State Council. The government would also encourage the exploitation of nonferrous metals both at home and abroad, supporting companies to invest in mines overseas -- either on their own or with foreign parties. The country would help with capital injection and foreign reserve application concerning overseas projects. The export rebate policy would be a "proper" and "flexible" one to encourage nonferrous products with high technology and high added values, according to the plan. The State Council also laid out guidelines to eliminate obsolete capacity and digest over capacity. No new project to develop electrolytic aluminum will be allowed in the next three years, the plan said. The country would put strict control on the production of copper, lead, zinc, titanium and magnesium. At the same time, China aims to save 1.7 million tonnes of coal and 6 billion KWh of electricity per year, as well as reduce sulfur dioxide by 850,000 tonnes annually as part of industrial upgrading for the nonferrous metallurgy sector. China was the largest producer and consumer of nonferrous metals with total output of ten major nonferrous metals reaching 25.2 million tonnes and total consumption at 25.17 million tonnes in 2008. The country's nonferrous metal industry received a severe blow from the global economic downturn after keeping high-speed growth for nearly a decade. Statistics released by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association showed aggregate profit of China's nonferrous metal producers fell 45 percent last year to 80 billion yuan (11.73 billion U.S. dollars). Along with the support plan for the nonferrous metal sector, the State Council has unveiled stimulus packages for 10 industries since January, such as machinery-manufacturing, electronics and information industries, the light industry and petrochemical sectors.
ASHGABAT, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said here late Tuesday that China and Turkmenistan have enjoyed healthy and steady development in bilateral relations since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1992. Li made the remarks in a written speech at the Ashgabat airport after arriving in the Central Asian country for a three-day official visit. Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (L) is greeted by Turkmenistan's Deputy Prime Minister Tachberdy Tagiyev upon his arrival at the airport of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, June 23, 2009.The friendship and cooperation between China and Turkmenistan had witnessed healthy and steady development in the past 17 years, adding that bilateral cooperation in different areas had been increasingly enhanced and yielded meaningful results, he said. Li noted that China and Turkmenistan have supported each other on critical issues, worked closely in multi-lateral areas and made positive contributions to regional peace, stability and common development. Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (R) is greeted upon his arrival at the airport of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, June 23, 2009. Turkmenistan is the first leg of Li's three-nation tour that will also take him to Finland and Uzbekistan. During his stay in Turkmenistan, Li will hold talks with Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, which will focus on bilateral relations and cooperation in economy, energy and other areas between the two countries. Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (L) is greeted by Turkmenistan's Deputy Prime Minister Tachberdy Tagiyev (R) upon his arrival at the airport of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, June 23, 2009.
BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisory body on Thursday urged its members to make more proposals on how the Communist Party and government can maintain the country's economic growth. The statement was made at a meeting attended by the chairman and vice chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Jia Qinglin (2nd R), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, chairs the 15th chairpersons meeting of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing, May 21, 2009 The meeting, which was presided over by Jia Qinglin, the chairman, also decided that the Standing Committee of the 11th CPPCC National Committee will hold its sixth session from June 16 to 19.